FROM assistants to analysts to coaching directors, AFL coaches' boxes are a wealth of information.

When TV cameras pan across to coaches' boxes in the AFL in the modern game, the head coach is flanked by numerous members of staff.

For others, like Collingwood coach Craig McRae and Yartapuulti's Ken Hinkley among others, they prefer to do their coaching from the interchange bench.

But just who are those people in your club's coaches' box on game day?

After 13 years with Brisbane, experienced assistant Murray Davis joined the Crows as coaching director ahead of this season and plays a critical role in the box next to Matthew Nicks. Davis manages communication with the bench and facilitates discussion within the box to inform decision making during games. To the other side of Nicks on game day is head of football analysis Chris Sheedy, who joined the Crows from Port Adelaide ahead of the 2021 season. Sheedy's role is to keep Nicks abreast of the statistical breakdown of the game and how the team is performing against key measures, sometimes supporting what the coach is seeing or on other occasions challenging his view with the data if required. The Crows will track some data and game trends on an ongoing basis, while others will be more nuanced to the particular opponent. Together the group identifies moments in the game that might be used for player education using vision. – Nathan Schmook

Chris Fagan moved to the bench after famously ripping his hamstring tendon off the bone in a mishap at the 2018 Big Freeze event for MND research. In charge of a young team at the time, Fagan found the direct communication with his players was a huge help and didn't head back to the box until 2023. That lasted just a year though following a meeting with the leadership group that urged him to move back to the bench. Now, Fagan communicates with the coaches' box via his football manager Danny Daly, who acts as a conduit between the senior coach and his assistants Stuart Dew, Cameron Bruce and Dale Morris. – Michael Whiting

Michael Voss has recently returned to the coaches' box, having spent much of last season on the bench, but old habits remain. He still prefers to stand while watching the game. Voss will often be stood in the box, where he's normally positioned next to his senior assistant Ash Hansen. The club's head of football Brad Lloyd and head of football operations Len Villani are also upstairs, as well as assistants Aaron Hamill (backline), Tim Clarke (midfield), Jordan Russell (forwards) and Matthew Kreuzer (rucks). Senior football analyst Matt Hodges, as well as fellow analysts Jack Noble and Marcus Rotili, are also sometimes among the group in the box. Aaron Greaves, the club's coaching and performance manager, coordinates things on the bench and was often Voss' main port of call when he was stationed downstairs. Injured defender Nic Newman is the only other person with a headset on the bench and organises communication from the coaches' box to the players. It's a similar role that former captain Sam Docherty held while he was sidelined through injury for the majority of last season. – Riley Beveridge

Craig McRae coaches from the boundary where he prefers to have direct interaction with his players from the bench. The 2023 premiership coach rarely sits, prowling the sideline like a Premier League manager. Hayden Skipworth has moved down there this year where the senior assistant has the headphones on to communicate with the coaches' box, relaying messages to the coach and players. McRae and Skipworth work closely together, along with fitness boss Jarrod Wade on the bench, who runs the rotations and monitors all the high performance indicators. New GM Charlie Gardiner sits at the back of the bench with the headphones on, relaying messages back and forth from the assistants in the box. – Josh Gabelich

Wherever Essendon is playing, you will see Brad Scott in the corner seat of the coaches' box. This allows him access to screens in front of him which are mirrored at ground level, so he can easily show players vision or explain situations in better detail while they are on the interchange bench. He always has midfield assistant coach Daniel Giansiracusa to his side, with fellow line assistant coaches Ben Jacobs and Cam Roberts also in the front row of Essendon's box. Up the back is football manager Dan McPherson, coaching and game strategy manager David Rath and the Bombers' analysts. There is a phone line that goes between Rath, McPherson, Scott and Ben Robbins, the club's head of psychology who is stationed at ground level, while stoppages coach Brent Stanton is based on the bench to help reinforce coach messaging. – Callum Twomey

Executive general manager of football Joe Brierty is the key figure stationed to one side of senior coach Justin Longmuir at both home and away games, with the experienced administrator often in a headset to play a role in managing communication to and from the box. Most clubs will have a direct line from the box to a bench coach and high performance manager at ground level, with the Dockers utilising former Peel Thunder coach and now head of development Geoff Valentine on the bench alongside high performance manager Phil Merriman. Longmuir also keeps members of the football analytics team close by as well as his assistants, with ruck coach Sam Naismith and backs coach Jade Rawlings the new members of the coaching team in the box this year alongside Jaymie Graham (forwards), Joel Corey (midfield) and Harry Garland (stoppages). Longmuir will almost always coach from the box but relocated to ground level briefly in round eight against St Kilda. – Nathan Schmook

Chris Scott – now in an astonishing 15th year of coaching Geelong – sits in the centre of the front row of the box, able to easily access everyone around him. His literal right-hand man has quickly become senior assistant coach Steven King, who started at the Cats last season, and has seven games of senior AFL coaching under his belt, having served as caretaker coach for Gold Coast after the sacking of Stuart Dew. To Scott's left sits James Kelly, another former Cats player who has returned to the club to coach. Kelly's first season was 2022, and he serves as backline coach. Head of footy Andrew Mackie sits second row back, while another former player, Shaun Higgins, has a game-day role on the interchange bench. – Sarah Black

The only man Damien Hardwick took to the Suns with him from Richmond when he signed in late 2023 was data analyst Hayden Hill. Literally Hardwick's right-hand man during his 14-season stint at Punt Rd, Hill still sits next to the three-time premiership coach in the box, just as he did at the Tigers. With his trusted colleague alongside him, Hardwick has a direct line to VFL coach Tate Kaesler on the bench to relay messages to his players. Football manager Wayne Campbell is also stationed at ground level to help communicate any instructions from the senior coach. – Michael Whiting

Adam Kingsley prefers to be stationed on the bench, but is still in constant communication with those upstairs. He spends most of his time next to the club's head of development Jason Davenport, who has a headset to the box and relays all vision back to Kingsley. The club's executive general manager of football, Jason McCartney, is upstairs and coordinates all communication among assistants from the box to Kingsley on the bench. Development coach Shane Mumford manages the players' communications from the box to the bench, while VFL coach Wayne Cripps is the side's runner and is also a port of call for Kingsley. Midfield/stoppages coach Ben Hart has recently started watching games from the bench, though fellow assistants Brent Montgomery (backline), Craig Jennings (midfield/transition) and Jeremy Laidler (forwards), as well as the club's team of analysts, are positioned up in the coaches' box. – Riley Beveridge

Sam Mitchell positions himself between GM Rob McCartney and opposition and strategy coach David McKay and has a direct line to footy ops boss Max Bailey on the bench. Hawthorn has made a change to its bench/coach formation this year, adding the experience of Brett Ratten at ground level to coach individual players from the interchange bench. Andy Collins did that role last year, but is focusing on Box Hill's program as Hawthorn's head of development. McKay has become an important part of gameday decision-making, along with line coaches David Hale, Adrian Hickmott and Kade Simpson. McCartney always has the headphones on and is the conduit between the box and the bench, communicating both ways via Bailey, who directs messages to runner Zane Leonard, who is also the Hawks' head strength and conditioning coach. Will Day has had an active role on the bench while rehabilitating from the stress fracture in his foot. – Josh Gabelich

Simon Goodwin is a fixture on the bench, having spent a number of seasons overseeing proceedings from downstairs. By now, he would have become accustomed to the booming voice of the club's head of development Mark Williams barking instructions to the players alongside him. Vincent Chungue is one of the club's highly rated analysts and is also a regular fixture behind Goodwin on the bench, where he helps the coach run through vision. Head of football operations Mallory Smith is also downstairs, where she organises communications from the coaches' box, while performance manager Selwyn Griffith and head of sports science Nick Murray also work in tandem by the bench. Ex-Richmond and Fremantle player Reece Conca is the runner, in charge of ferrying Goodwin's instructions to the players on the field. Upstairs, head of football Alan Richardson works closely with the club's group of assistant coaches in Nathan Bassett (backline/team defence), Nathan Jones (midfield/stoppages), Troy Chaplin (forwards/team offence) and Sam Radford (midfield) from the coaches' box. – Riley Beveridge

Alastair Clarkson will often be positioned in the coaches' box in between two of his most trusted confidantes. The club's head of football Todd Viney will be on one side of him, while its highly rated head football analyst Noni Taylor will be on the other. Performance analyst Ashley Crawford and opposition analyst Najee Imam are also stationed in the box and work closely with Clarkson's group of assistant coaches in Jed Adcock (backline), Leigh Adams (midfield) and Xavier Clarke (forwards). The club's football operations coordinator Steph Webb is also located upstairs, while its head of football operations Cam Matthews is the main port of call downstairs on the bench. He takes all communications from the box and directs it to the relevant people and players. – Riley Beveridge

Ken Hinkley moved to the Power's interchange bench after his side's Showdown loss in round three of the 2023 season. His team then went on a club record 13-game winning streak and Hinkley has remained there since, where his close relationship with players has been crucial. He positions himself next to runner Cam Sutcliffe, so as the messages going out to players are getting the direct messages from him during the game. Then there is usually a gap left before the place where the Power players sit on the bench, where Hinkley is regularly seen in discussions during the game. Via headphones he keeps in touch with football boss Chris Davies in the Power's coaches' box, with Davies directing the communication from in there with the assistants to ground level. – Callum Twomey

Adem Yze has been known to spend some time on the bench over his first 1.5 seasons, but has been in the box of late as his team has taken the next step forward in its development. While some coaches like to place themselves front and centre, Yze gives himself plenty of room to move and wriggle around, sitting on the end of the second row. Head of footy performance Tim Livingstone sits to his right, with the tight and steep MCG stairs to his left. Some footy bosses sit back, but Livingstone has a headset during games, unlike the coach himself. Richmond's three line-assistant coaches – Steve Morris, Chris Newman and Blake Caracella – sit immediately in front of Yze, while general assistant coach Ben Rutten is on the bench – Sarah Black

Ross Lyon coaches from the box with Corey Enright positioned next to him driving decisions as the Saints’ head of strategy. The Geelong great moved to the gameplan role over the off-season and is heavily involved on gameday. Line coaches Brendon Bolton, Robert Harvey and Jared Rivers also sit in the front row and have a line down to fitness boss Alex Sakadjian on the bench. Lyon is on a different line down to the bench with football manager David Misson and player development manager Tony Brown, who has always combined his time in charge of the Saints’ welfare with runner. – Josh Gabelich

With Dean Cox in his first season as senior coach, the Swans structure their coaching box around his preferences. He has been sitting between midfield assistant Ben Mathews and forwards line coach Amon Buchanan in recent weeks. With Mathews, Cox sits there to be across the structural elements of Sydney's game and to watch over critical vision during the match as it happens with Buchanan on his other side. Sydney's data analysts are at the back of their box and are called on for vision and clips for the assistants to show players at quarter breaks, while Cox generally gets to the last four minutes of a quarter before thinking about his coaching group's message to the players. A development coach, like Adam Kennedy, generally sits on Sydney's bench to be able to help direct traffic from there. – Callum Twomey

Andrew McQualter has set up his coaches' box with general manager of football Gavin Bell to his right and long-time performance analyst Luke Hyde to his left. Bell's role is to manage information flow between the box and the bench, staying connected at all times with high performance manager Mathew Inness at ground level and head of development Jamie Maddocks. McQualter can access the line at any time with a phone. Maddocks plays the role of bench coach on game days, which is a position McQualter reintroduced at West Coast for the first time since assistant Adrian Hickmott left at the end of 2021. While Bell manages things like communication, noise in the box, and keeps an eye on the game clock, Hyde relays big-picture analytics throughout the game, with the assistant coaches positioned together at the front of the box. The whole group generally checks in halfway through a quarter and again with two minutes to play to coordinate messaging. Line coaches will head to ground level with one minute to go before McQualter gathers final pieces of information and prepares what he's going to say to the players. – Nathan Schmook

Player leadership coach Jarryn Geary has become Luke Beveridge's right-hand man on game day. The former Euro-Yroke skipper sits next to the senior coach and helps him action moves, with midfield coach Brendon Lade parking himself on the bench to be the conduit from the box to ground level. Beveridge wears the headphones for most of the game, communicating with Lade and PDM Brent Prismall, who also runs messages on game day. Daniel Pratt and Matt Spangher sit in the front row next to Beveridge. Analyst Jason Smith is also in the front row, close to the coach to relay information. GM Matt Egan sits at the back of the box and is involved in ensuring nothing is missed with communication between the coaches. – Josh Gabelich